They have the spycraft and resources to steal moderna and pfizer or even J&J if they wanted it. If that fails, they probably have the money to just buy the rights to produce it. I mean didn't sputnik at least prove somewhat effective?
China already has an indigenously developed vaccine (from CanSino) that uses the same technology as J&J and AstraZeneca. It's just as effective.
> I mean didn't sputnik at least prove somewhat effective?
Sputnik V was one of the most effective vaccines. It was more effective than J&J and AstraZeneca in phase-3 trials.
> they probably have the money to just buy the rights to produce it
A Chinese company, Fosun, invested in the development of the BioNTech vaccine early on, and has the rights to produce and distribute it in China. The vaccine hasn't been approved in mainland China, though.
The efficacy of Chinese vaccines isn't a major issue. They're plenty effective, and 3 doses of Sinovac actually turned out to be just as effective as 3 doses of BioNTech in Hong Kong.[1]
The issue is that old people in China have been hesitant to get vaccinated at all. So far, old people in China have been protected by the zero-CoVID policy, so this hasn't been an issue. If the virus starts spreading, however, it will become an issue.
